I've been fascinated by this expensive little serotonin reuptake enhancer since I first read about it nearly a year ago. It sounded so nice. A mood uplifter with nearly no side effects (unlike SSRI's and bupropion which have tended to cause quite a bit of mental dulling for me in the past) that also had purported efficacy with treating ADHD symptoms, and possible cognitive enhancing benefits. Sounded like just the wonder drug I'd been looking for!
After my initial mega-dose with Noopept I realized I was quite depressed, and that is what finally motivated me to give Stablon a try. If you're looking for a supplier then check the retailer/product discussion section of the site (may only be available to logged in users) and let's keep this thread dedicated to experiences and discussion about Stablon/tianeptine. Ha! An attempt to guide the topic, maybe an effect of tianeptine use
I've been taking the recommended one tablet three times a day for 14 days. Each tablet is 12.5mg tianeptine so that comes to a total dosage of 37.5mg per day. It has a plasma (blood) half life of 2.5 hours. I'm not sure what that relates to on a serotonergic level but I basically just follow the directions and take one pill upon waking and then re-dose every four to six hours. I was expecting some sort of warm happy buzz-like effect because of the reports of abuse potential, but so far have felt nothing of the sort and personally believe those claims are exaggerated.
Other supplements taken daily while taking tianeptine (not nootropics):
Acyclovir 400mg/day
BHT 250mg/day
Vit C 1,000mg BID
Vit D 1,000mcg/day
Caffeine 100-300mg/day
Night 1: Received the package in the afternoon and decided to take my first dose starting that night before bed. Honestly I was hoping for the dream side effects. I had very intense and vivid dreams and have come to realize that it is likely the Stablon causing these.
Day 1: Just felt strange. An unusual psychic feeling difficult to articulate upon. A mix between being really tired and slightly uncomfortable but without the desire to sleep.
Day 2: Very very busy day at work. I felt strange still but I had a million things going on all day. I didn't feel necessarily stressed out, I could just keep going, doing the next thing I needed to. Then finally at 5:15pm or so I decided to take a nap. I lay down and realized that my mind was racing a little, likely from all the stuff I had just done. I finally was able to get relaxed after a few minutes and then dozed off a bit, but it felt like as soon as I fell asleep completely I was suddenly awoken... startled. I felt very rested and awake after maybe 15 minutes of napping but it could have been from a mini-adrenalin rush from waking up startled.
I saw on this day how Stablon could possibly offer some motivation benefits without adding stress. It felt as if I could have just kept going if I had wanted to, doing the next thing in front of me without needing to rest. Also, my head seemed clear and my negotiating skills were intact. I went to a Halloween party at night, did some dancing and won the grand prize in the raffle plus another prize.
Day 3: Woke up with a random smile on my face and feeling quite content. Unfortunately that didn't last long as I realized as soon as I woke up that my roommates (female) were on the verge of breaking out in a fist fight. Luckily it didn't end violently but it started my day a bit off kilter.
The day was basically normal, still had a generally strange unarticulateable sensation but that was soon to pass. I went to another Halloween party that night and won two more pretty substantial prizes. I'm pretty sure Stablon makes me luckier. However, I felt a bit socially awkward and had a suspicion that it might be due to my body/brain adjusting to the new drug.
Day 4: "I was noticing today that one way to describe this substance is that it doesn't "dull" your perception in the way that SSRI's do. There is no emotional blunting so to say or brain fog. But there is a definite filter just in front of consciousness. It's a very difficult sensation to describe. I'm not sure if I like it but will continue taking this till the end just to see what it's like after the suggested 2-3 weeks of administration.
It's like there is a tiny, very thin, almost completely invisible gelatin filter over the perception/consciousness/experience center. I look at trees and see that they are beautiful, but there is an almost plastic quality to them, like a small artificial separation is coming between me and the visual input. The difficulty I'm having describing it is fascinating to me and makes me what to use more descriptive words to examine it. It's a sensation I've never had before, and I've never heard described so it's hard for me to put it into words. "
This is the day I started noticing improvement in my mental/mood state. I noticed that my thinking turned a bit more positive and I started looking on the bright side of situations again. A refreshing improvement but nothing drastic.
Day 5-Day 14:
Whoops. I stopped writing in my journal about my experience with the medicine which isn't a good sign for ADD sufferers
, but it was in part to do with my busy work schedule. The "strange" gel-like sensation went away completely around day 5 or 6. After that I began having a small amount of mood-swings throughout the days. I'd be generally quite happy one day and then irritable and discontent the next. The difference is that the negative emotions didn't seem to affect my behavior as they usually would. I found caffeine to be beneficial as a mood and energy increaser, it seems to work much more effectively than without tianeptine.I've found tianeptine to be a nice tool for finishing projects. Nothing like the obsessive desire that pramiracetam causes me but more like a smooth moving along to the next step until I finish. This stuff is very calm for the most part and definitely an effective anxiolytic but not in even a slightly sedating way. Not a stimulant and not a depressant, for me at least.
Amazingly vivid dreams are happening every night but for some reason I'm having a difficult time remembering them except for short segments. Other than increasing the vivid detail of my dreams it has not affected my sleep at all, even when dosed just before bedtime.
I've noticed that I'm stuck in the moment a bit. Even though I'm performing well at work and seem to be getting along fine with my friends and family I feel almost as if I'm unconsciously moving from situation to situation. Like I'm floating through life a bit, without living with intention. Not sure if that's something I can blame on tianeptine or if it's something that I need to make effort towards changing. Let me try to clarify, I feel sharp in the moment but a little fuzzy and disconnected with regard to my memory of recent events.
Around Day 11 my mood stabilized and has stayed stable ever since. I'm glad I stuck with the dosing even through the less than ideal emotional ups and downs because now I'm experiencing quite a nice dose of peace in my life. I feel a slight decrease in motivation to exercise and have noticed an increased appetite the last two days but not in an excessive or debilitating way and so far no apparent weight gain. Feel very calm, pretty serene and that everything is going to be ok.
I've noticed quite a bit of verbal fluency the past few days and I've been able to relate with close friends on an empathic level and articulate clearly my point. A few people have mentioned that I've been on one with the moral support so to say. So it has possibly increased my emotional intelligence a bit.
Also, colors are definitely brighter and more beautiful. Everything has a "Holiday Filter" look to it. Cheery, saturated and lovely. Nearly forgot to mention it.
One negative side effect that was quite frightening at first was uncomfortable heart palpitations. I've read every source I can find and supposedly tianeptine lacks the other tricyclic antidepressant's side effect of heart palpitations. The only thing listed as a potential side effect relating to the heart is postural hypotension, which I suppose could be something that would cause the heart to rapidly begin beating to increase blood-flow to the brain/extremities. I haven't noticed any light-headedness, shortness of breath or dizziness though. I'm tempted to assume that it is causing slight heart palpitations that I've now gotten used to. Checked my blood pressure today and it was 120/68 so nothing abnormal as far as pressure goes for me. Any thoughts on this would be welcomed.
Also, involuntary twitching of the eye-lids has increased a bit, but not to an unbearable or even annoying level.
While taking this I've had a largely reduced desire to take any other sort of substance (possible efficacy in addcition treatment). But I have tried a few different noots in conjunction with the Stablon and gotten mixed results. They are as follows...
Noopept: I haven't taken Noopept regularly for nearly two months but 50mgs made me irritable/short-fused, quite upset and easily annoyed. I tried 30mgs a few days later and although I was worried about the irritability returning it went very smoothly and was quite enjoyable. Verbal fluency was increased and feeling of well-being increased slightly. May repeat this from time to time but have no pressing desire at this moment.
Sulbutiamine: Decided to finally capsule-up the rest of my sulbutiamine, (which is a serious pain of a powder to put into capsules by the way) and decided to take some in the mean-time. Took 800mgs about 15 minutes before dinner. The effects were very nice, quite a dopaminergic boost as usual. Had a very nice social outing with friends but developed a moderate headache about 3 hours after taking the sulbutiamine. Can't remember ever getting a headache from that before so guessing it was a biproduct of mixing with tianeptine.
Caffeine: Great stuff. Makes caffeine very enjoyable. Energizing and mood-brightening.
L-Tyrosine: I've taken this a total of 4 days off and on while on Stablon. Usually it's 500mgs in the morning. Definite increase in motivation but almost a bit too stimulating sometimes. Can definitely get lots of work finished in a timely manner but there tends to be a slight crash about 6 hours after taking it.
Pramiracetam: Tried this for the first time last night with a 300mg dose. Increased energy level. Made verbal communication a bit too easy (found myself quite opinionated and a bit overbearing in conversation). Had a very pleasant mood brightening effect that I've never experienced on pramiracetam alone before. May try this again with a decreased dose size, 300mg seems a bit excessive in retrospect.
Conclusion:
I'm really not sure. I'll continue updating but I'm a bit wishy-washy about this stuff. It's helped to stabilize my mood quite a bit (not just a clever name I suppose) and has probably had an overall positive effect on my productivity at work. I feel a bit disconnected though, not spaced out just slightly separated from my perceptual experience.
Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that my organizational skills have been slightly compromised and it seems more difficult to be concise with my wording. Both points are likely apparent in this lengthy and meandering report, lol. Is it a cognitive enhancer? It's really hard to say from a subjective viewpoint. I'd lean towards, "Not significantly".
I have about three weeks worth of Stablon remaining and still haven't decided whether I want to order more or if I should start tapering down in a week. We'll see...
In closing here are the effects I have personally experienced.
Positives: Increased likelihood of finishing and starting projects. Stabilized mood and depression after 11 days of dosing regularly. Subjectively improved empathy/EQ and social relationships. Decrease in compulsive/addictive behavior and improved impulse control. Brightening of color perception. General feeling of peace and well-being and lack of anxiety. Greatly reduced anxiety and increased ability to handle stressful situations.
Neutral: Gel coating over subjective experience for the first 5 days. Cool vivid dreams. Increased appetite starting around day 10.
Negatives: Uncomfortable intermittent heart palpitations. Slight "disconnected" feeling or fuzzy memory of recent events. Mood swings while adjusting to medicine over the first few days. Slight increase in facial twitching. Perceived inability to efficiently express myself. Decrease in motivation to exercise.
